Book Details

About This Book

Learn how to use Mecanim; create states and manage them through scripting

Use scripting to manage the graphical interface, collisions, animations, persistent data, or transitions between scenes

Who This Book Is For

"Getting Started with Unity" is for 3D game developers who would like to learn how to use Unity3D and become familiar with its core features. This book is also suitable for intermediate users who would like to improve their skills. No prior knowledge of Unity3D is required.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Getting to Know Unity3D

Introduction to game engines

Why choose Unity

What's new in Unity3D 4

Downloading Unity3D

Launching Unity3D

Unity3D's interface

Navigating through the AngryBots scene

Creating a new project and scene

Adding objects to a scene

Implementing first- and third-person views

Summary

Chapter 2: Creating a Maze with Built-in Objects

Creating a maze based on built-in objects

Fine-tuning the level

Understanding colliders

Summary

Chapter 3: Using Scripts to Interact with Objects

Introduction to scripting in Unity3D

Importing necessary assets

Creating our first script

Collecting objects

Adding audio

Creating and displaying an inventory system

Finishing the game

Summary

Chapter 4: Creating and Tracking Objects

Displaying the health bar

Displaying a mini-map of the level

Creating a gun

Allowing for repeated shots

Summary

Chapter 5: Bringing Your Game to Life with AI and Animations

Importing and configuring the 3D character

Animating the character for the game

Creating parameters and transitions

Adding basic AI to enemies

Sending messages to alert other close enemies

Creating additional states

Using waypoints to define a path

Summary

Chapter 6: Finalizing and Optimizing Your Game

Improving the AI using breadcrumbing

Creating and updating prefabs

Keeping track of the number of lives

Animating the door that leads to the water section

Creating a menu system for your game

Keeping track of the number of lives

Optimizing the game

Exporting your game to the web

Where to go from here

Summary

What You Will Learn

Understand the different layouts, windows, and shortcuts, and navigate through scenes

In Detail

Unity is a game development engine which is fully integrated with a complete set of intuitive tools and rapid workflows used to create interactive 3D content. Unity is best used for making great games that can deploy to numerous platforms.

"Getting Started with Unity" guides you progressively through the necessary steps to create a survival game using Unity3D’s built-in objects and components, JavaScript, animations with Mecanim, and some basic AI.

In this book, you will be introduced to a wide range of the core features used for games developed with Unity3D, including the user interface and much more. Furthermore, you will also learn about essential aspects like transformations, scripting, navigation, and built-in controllers.

Beginning with an introduction to the user interface, you will learn the necessary skills required to create a survival video game. Each section is a stepping-stone toward the completion of the final game. By the end of the book, you will have created an indoor level with enemies, AI, weapons, objects to collect, and all the logic to control the game.

Authors

Patrick Felicia

Patrick Felicia is a lecturer and researcher at Waterford Institute of Technology, where he teaches and supervises undergraduate and postgraduate students. He obtained his MSc in Multimedia Technology in 2003 and PhD in Computer Science in 2009 from University College Cork, Ireland. He has published several books and articles on the use of video games for educational purposes, including Handbook of Research on Improving Learning and Motivation through Educational Games: Multidisciplinary Approaches (published by IGI), and Digital games in schools: a handbook for teachers, published by European Schoolnet. Patrick is also the Editor-in-chief of the International Journal of Game-Based Learning (IJGBL), and the Conference Director of the Irish Symposium on Game-Based Learning, a popular conference on games and learning organized throughout Ireland.

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